Posts Tagged With: environment

The most wonderful thing happened to me at the Missouri Environmental Education Association (MEEA) mini-conference yesterday. I walked away from the event with the most amazing book; it is a compilation of educational lessons and activities about the Upper Mississippi River. Erin Hilligoss-Volkmann of the Army Corps of Engineers gave a presentation, and I was one of the lucky ones to receive one of three copies she brought along. I asked her if I could post some things about the book on my blog, and she said, “Yes.”

This book is the manifestation in the physical realm of what I have been envisioning in my mind as it relates the Missouri River. Only it goes way beyond what I imagined possible. It is complete, thorough, comprehensive, beautifully illustrated, and bursting with amazing science and social studies lessons and activities. I’d say the book is somewhat like a dream-come-true, and gives my trip a rich new perspective.

Well deserved kudos go out to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP) Cultural Resources and Stewardship Mitigation Team in La Crosse, WI, and design team led by Formations.

This book is given to facilitators at a workshop in which they are trained to train teachers to teach students about the upper Mississippi River. Here are the titles to the units:

Unit 1 Introduction to the Upper Mississippi River Watershed

Unit 2 Introduction to Upper Mississippi River Ecosystems

Unit 3 Introduction to Mississippi River History and Culture

Unit 4 Introduction to the Mississippi River at Work

Unit 5 Introduction to A Shared Resource – Our Mississippi River

Here’s a peak at some of the activities:

Content includes activities relating to river habitats, glacial history, plants, animals, and habitats of the Upper Miss, bird migration, endangered species, Mississippi’s ancient civilizations, Native Americans, settlement and transportation, Underground Railroad, watershed occupations, steam power, Mark Twain, Lewis and Clark, floods, locks, dams, water safety, and caring for the river, among many other subjects. The book even includes profiles of people important to the river today, such as Michael Clark and his Big Muddy Adventures.

To be honest, I am quite speechless as I look through this treasure chest of river education tools. Seems reasonable and logical to have a complimentary Missouri River resource such as this, full of riches much finer than gold.

Our local Douglas High School students braving the cold weather to learn first hand about river stewardship and environmental responsibility. You guys ROCK! From Missouri River Relief’s FB page:

“A big thanks to Douglass High school students for braving the river with us today and their teacher John Reid for making it happen! We also enjoyed the company of some local “rotarians”, one of our new sponsors, a photo-journalism student, our faithful dog Sombra, and a couple sailing the Mighty Mo. in a canoe complete with a homemade sail! What a day! More photos to come soon hopefully.”

AND…Sioux City, Iowa, middle-school students contribute to, and learn about, environmental responsibility in their local watershed…

Three cheers to these outstanding and inspirational learners! You guys ROCK! That is soooo cool!

FOLLOW 1Woman3GreatRivers Project

Quick Status Updates

The journey is not over until the mission bears fruit:
Empowerment ~ Education ~ Environment

I reached the Gulf of Mexico on December 5, 2013.

Thanks to everyone for their heartfelt support. This was OUR expedition, and for that I am grateful.

I will be updating the expedition periodically from where I left off at Fort Peck Lake. My goal is for viewers to access the expedition at their convenience. However, there will be much of the journey I am saving for my book.

Here is a synopsis:
I completed the challenging yet successful ski into
Brower's Spring with Norm Miller on April 24-25.

I completed three days of incredible
bike riding 100 miles from Hell Roaring Canyon
To Clark Canyon Dam.

I paddled down the Beaverhead River from Clark Canyon Dam to Twin Bridges, where the river worked me hard and I suffered two holes in my boat and a sprained wrist by the second day.

From Twin Bridges, the Beaverhead River turns into the Jefferson River, which is deeper and wider, and one of the more beautiful stretches of this journey. This leg of the journey is neatly tucked under my belt.

I arrived in Three Forks, the headwaters of the Missouri River, on Saturday, May 11, approximately 300 miles downstream from the ultimate source, Brower's Spring.

I spent the next four months paddling down the Missouri River, stopping at my home base, Cooper's Landing, on September 16.

My birthday on September 28 marked my arrival in St. Charles, and I paddled through the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers the next day, September 29.

Proceeding down the Mississippi River, I arrived in Memphis, TN, on October 17. Here, I took an extended break of two weeks because of a speaking engagement I flew out to in Bend, OR, at the Conservation Lands Foundation 'Friends Rendezvous.'

November 1 found me on my way again down the Mississippi River until December 5 when I reached the Gulf of Mexico.

Oh, what a trip it has been! A glorious trip to say the least.

Do what you love and love what you do.

Every day is a new adventure! Live fast ~ Paddle slow

Contact Information

Thank you for your support.
Your comments are always welcome.
To contact me directly, please email me any time at:

janet.ann.moreland [at] gmail [dot] com

Or call/text at cell:
(573) 424 - 5083

If you would like to donate to this expedition, please go to my Donation Opportunities page at the top of this website. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated! Thank you, Janet

LoveYourBigMuddy Expedition

My name is Janet Moreland. I am a Missouri River paddler from Columbia, MO, most often found at or near Cooper's Landing. I graduated from the University of Missouri in December 2012 with a degree in Education, and am now certified to teach middle school social studies and/or science. At 57 years young, I recently completed a 3,800-mile source-to-sea solo kayak expedition from the Missouri River source at Brower's Spring, Montana, to the Gulf of Mexico. On April 24, 2013, I skied into the source at 9,000 ft. in the Centennial Mountains, and arrived at the end of South Pass in the Gulf of Mexico on December 5, 2013. My mission includes elements of education, environmental stewardship, and empowering youth, women, and men to confidently pursue their dreams.

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Food for Thought

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

"Nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished without the will to start, the enthusiasm to continue and, regardless of temporary obstacles, the persistence to complete." - Waite Phillips

Self-efficacy:
“People with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided.”
–Albert Bandura

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” -Hunter S. Thompson